. >> it led to what was arguably governor romney's finest moment in the campaign. the first debate, thank you so much for being here. our title today is the future of the republican party. this assumes, of course, that it has one. [laughter] let's talk about the election. obviously, you played a crucial role. i want to get your sense -- we are now seeing reports that the campaign was very surprised by the outcome, even right up to the evening of election day. because their polls were showing something different than everyone else. is that true? really, house surprise was the campaign? >> first, it was a very close election in ohio. a high was one of the key states. even had we won, it turns out the electoral vote count would have gone to president obama. recall, back in 2004, when john kerry lost to george bush, he would often say publicly and to me on the floor of the senate, but for half of the people that could fit in a horseshoe, i would be president today. it was a narrow victory. i do think that there are some reasons that are almost technical, which some of